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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. craft — a skill
  3. drill — a practice
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stem — to come from
  6. race — a contest
  7. track — a path
  8. game — a match
  9. craft — boats
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. drill — the tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. race — humankind
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — an illness
  18. face — to point toward
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. track — to keep track
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. face — to confront
  24. track — a song

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com